I really want to be the kind of person who relates to this kind of poetry, but I'm not sure I am. What I can definitely say is I enjoyed the look into Erika's life through some of the stories, letters, and poems she shared.

I have been a fan of Erika Meitner's work for over ten years, so I was thrilled to read her newest collection, Useful Junk, which holds a variety of work that explores what we do with memory. Some of her poems are straight narratives about the past while others are more abstract and offer stream of consciousness thoughts about events happening now that take us to another time. Whether she is retreating to a CVS story for a home pregnancy kit or grappling with the idea of nude selfies, the poet is always sympathetic and thoughtful. Another win for Erika Meitner! ( )

I am not a huge poetry fan so feel free to not give this review much credence. Many of the poems in this collection were about hookups, blowjobs, bad decisions, and dick picks. I have no problem with any of those, I was just expecting to see a little more variety in this collection. Some poems resonated with me and others were a struggle to read. It was a total crapshoot. Some of the themes and poems felt relatable and powerful and others felt disjointed. Poetry hits everyone different - so I fully expect that others will love this collection, just personally not my cup of tea. ( )

Many of these poems are composed of two- or three-line stanzas, a compact and comforting structure I like. Others are prose poems bordering on stream-of-conscious tellings, a nice contribution that doesn't overwhelm the collection. Told insightfully and often with humor, some of Meitner's poems had me smiling, nodding, and thinking long after I'd closed the volume. My personal wish is that they hadn't been filled with so much erotica. Here and there would have been fine, but the mention was pervasive and sometimes on the verge of vulgar (for me). No doubt other readers will disagree with me on that. ( )

Poems about women and motherhood, and the crazy world around us. ( )